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Meet Rébecca Déraspe

Fresh from a trip to Brussels, the Montreal-based playwright, Rébecca Déraspe, tells us about her passion for theatre, about Deux ans de votre vie and its characters, about friendship and the projects she is working on.

How did you come to write for theatre? 

When I was a child, my dream was to become an actress. I was fascinated by television actors. At 5, I started acting classes. At 20, I realized that the stage was a very stressful environment for me and that I could not be an actress. It was a difficult realization. I then studied creative writing in university. There were play-writing classes as part of the program. I was immediately inspired by this type of writing which combined my passion for theatre while allowing me to express myself in other ways. I had found my place. I started writing plays and then auditioned for the National Theatre School’s playwriting program. I graduated in 2010.

What inspired you to write Deux ans de votre vie ?

I was approached by les Biches pensives, a Montreal theatre company founded by Annie Darise and Dominique Leclerc, two actresses. They commissioned me for a specific theme; write about the social pressure that is placed on single people and couples. It was a theme that has always interested me, that spoke to me personally. I know Annie and Dominique very well; we share the same school of thought. From the start we shared a common vision of the project. My impression is that they gave me a spark rather than asking me for a specific theme. It was a beautiful gift. My biggest challenge was to theatricalize the proposition, while avoiding clichés, caricature or anything didactic. I didn’t want to put forward a position on what to think about couples, but rather present a story that would invite a reflection on the idea of couples.
Did the fact that it was a commission influence your creative process?

Yes, especially for the characters. Most of the time, it’s Annie and Dominique that act in the plays they produce. So, my initial inspiration came from these two women, who they are and especially their strengths as actors, to create the characters. We also worked closely together during the entire process, which also had an impact on my writing. We would meet regularly to talk about the text and to hear it read aloud. As a result, the relationship to aural qualities in the script of Deux ans de votre vie is very present.

How would describe Deux ans de votre vie?

It’s a play that has a caustic outlook on couples, without  falling into maliciousness. It speaks about our need to be loved and to love with empathy. The play has all the elements of a romantic comedy, without entirely being one. In general, the audience wants to see Chloé and Jérémie fall in love, even if they know the situation we are presenting is completely absurd. It raises questions about our capacity to make compromises when it comes to love.

Do you believe that relationships have evolved since you wrote the play five years ago? Do you think that the arrival of apps like Tinder have changed the deal in any way?

Yes, I think so. The more we go, the more choices we have, the bigger the store gets. The pressure to be in a relationship is always there, to form a team and forge ahead two-by-two in the construction of our lives, whether it’s buying a house, or staring a family. At the same time, we are exposed to more and more choices. We are constantly reminded to find happiness, to listen to our inner selves, to realize our dreams. We can be anyone, anything. When do we stop and say: This is it, this is the person that I want to be, among all the people that exist? These two trains of thought don’t always go well together and I think this can be very anxiety-provoking.

Do the three characters of Deux ans de votre vie resemble you at all? Chloé, definitely. She’s a romantic that lets herself be charmed. She’s also a girl that has a great sense of self-mockery. That’s me. And it’s also very much Annie Darisse, the actress for whom I wrote the part. Annie and I have known each since childhood. Actually, I met her in my theatre classes when I was five years old! Chloé is a bit of an amalgamation of the two of us.

You won the BMO Group Finance Playwright Award with Deux ans de votre vie. What does this recognition mean to you?

The BMO award is a people’s choice award. And, before anything, I write for people, to touch them, to make them laugh, to make them think. To win such an accolade is for me a confirmation that the public hears and receives my words: I was astounded for months afterwards, me, a young playwright, fresh out of the National Theatre School. And I received confirmation that I was in the right place. It was huge for me.

One of the distinctive features of your play is the way the characters tell their story directly to the audience.  Can you tells us a little bit about this stylistic choice? 

Because the piece speaks to social pressures, I wanted to directly take the audience to task. When, for example, the characters address them directly and tell them things like “You smile, you are happy, you think about…” it puts into perspective the gap that exists between our expectations and reality. It’s a way to underline the content with the form. It’s also a process that I used, in the beginning, for reasons of practicality. The objective, in the beginning, with this script was for a reading at a festival. We didn’t want to hire an actor just to read stage directions, so I integrated them directly into the characters’ lines. We discovered that it worked quite well and so it stayed.

Does this impact the way one might stage the play?

Yes, the relationship between the stage and the house is different for me. Because the actions are more often described than played, the audience is all the more solicited. They must engage with their imagination! The director, well, he/she must face the fact that the words define the space. It asks him/her to think alternatively. For the actors, they live in a constant flux between their relationship to the audience and to each other. It takes a great deal of finesse and agility for these fissures to happen naturally.

What are your projects at the moment?

I’m working on a new commission from Les Biches Pensives that speaks about female accomplishment. The text will produced next year. My larger main-stage work, Plus (+) que toi will be produced this Fall in Winnipeg. For children, I am developing a text for Théâtre Bouches Décousues and Théâtre de la Petite Marée, and my text Le merveilleux voyage de Réal de Montréal will be on tour across Québec next year. I am also working on two mini-series with production houses Pixcom and Casablanca, as well as an cinematographic adaptation of Deux ans de votre vie.

Deux ans de votre vie will be presented at Studio 16 in Vancouver from October 13-24, 2015. Tickets on sale now at brownpapertickets.com.